Six months of regular power cuts makes trading even harder for Dudley businesses

Nearly 30 residents and businesses on Wellington Road were again without electric on Wednesday due to the problem with the National Grid.

Mark Carr, a partner at A-line Tyres, complained the power cuts are making a tough business environment even harder.

He said: "These power cuts last for hours and have been going on since last July. It seems to happen at least once a month but that can cause havoc.

"National Grid has told us if the electric is off for more than 12 hours then we could qualify for £150 but that is not enough when I've got four staff who need paying."

He said: "When the power went a few months ago we had customers cars up on the ramps so we just had to wait until the power returned to bring them down."

"The other day the power was off when we arrived in the morning and did not return until 3pm, which wrecked our whole day. To break even we need to take £600 a day so £150 is a drop in the ocean."

He added: "Our costs have gone up like every other business so this is the last thing we need."

Wellington Road institution Sandhars Supermarket staff were unable to enter the building as the shop's shutters are linked to the electric.

Owner Jag Sandhar said: "The power cuts keep on happening and they are very inconvenient for everyone, from staff to customers. We have been here for 40 years and have known nothing like it, these power cuts have been going on since last summer."

National Grid confirmed a fault with an underground cable is causing the persistent power cuts.

A National Grid spokesman said: "There is an intermittent cable fault on Wellington Road which is affecting 28 customers.

"We restored electric supply through a combination of back feeding and generators."

The spokesman added: "We are trying to locate the fault and will find a permanent solution, this does mean we will be digging in the area and we apologise for any inconvenience caused."